A Personal View on Exercise Cals and Underfeeding

ladyhawk00

I found it hard to understand how eating more could be OK after all these years of thinking that you had to starve yourself on a diet ... but I have found it so much easier to stick with this program because I can eat more if I burn calories therefore giving me incentive to work out more - I've been losing slowly, only 6.5 pounds in a month and a half - but I've also gone from a size 14 to a size 10 and have a lot more energy ... and that is the true goal!

Thanks for a great post!

My energy level is one of the key indicators for me. I used to make a lot of excuses for how tired and fatigued I was all the time - a lot of denial about how it wasn't because I didn't eat enough. My energy levels are a million times better now - everyone has noticed that I'm more energetic and upbeat. Yay! :bigsmile:

myofibril

There was nothing drastic about it, but over 5 years I lost probably half of my muscle mass and doubled or tripled my fat.

You did what now? Holy crap...

Nice OP. Well observed and good self awareness. Good luck with acheiving your goals.

ladyhawk00

There was nothing drastic about it, but over 5 years I lost probably half of my muscle mass and doubled or tripled my fat.

You did what now? Holy crap...

Nice OP. Well observed and good self awareness. Good luck with acheiving your goals.

Crazy to think of, eh. What's really crazy to me, is that I did great while I was pregnant/breastfeeding - being responsible for someone else was easy to do. But when it came to just being healthy for my own sake, I simply quit on it. I wasn't exactly a pinup model, but I had pretty good muscle tone and my BF % was good. When I was younger, of course, it didn't seem so hard to keep those things in line (though I didn't always do it in a healthy way.) But after being pregnant and hitting 30, it was a whole different story. I went from a BF % of about 20 to over 40 when I started changing habits. Scary, and sad, to think about. Thanks for the good wishes!

tgh1914

bump

ladyhawk00

Self bump - whatchoo gonna do about it?!

holliwest

I agree 110% I am thinner when I eat. It is a really hard mental concept for me to grasp. I for years worked out 2 hrs a day and ate 1000 calories and was the biggest I have ever been. I do not weigh myself but I have made it a point to eat every few hours and track my calories for the last two months and have many people saying wow what are you doing. I say EATING..... Mentally its hard for me to think this is ok... EAT and lose... but I am trying my hardest and its working... I am 5'2 and a size 1 but I was at one point a size 9 and that was starvation... I work out 2 hrs a day so its hard to eat my calories I burn, but by eating every few hours good food, it makes it easier..
GOOD LUCK

ShellyMacchi

great post.. thank you for it.. and thank you to those bumping it so i noticed it *L*

maeadair

bump ty Shelly

runningneo122

Bump for my friend, ladyhawk. Good job, girl.

ladyhawk00

Bump for my friend, ladyhawk. Good job, girl.

:smooched:

kdiamond

Think of competitive bodybuilders, they do NOT look like they do at the competition year round. They do cycles of "bulk" and "cut", where they eat more, gain weight, then cut down ("diet") to get back into competitive shape. This is like real life...we as humans go through periods of bulking and cutting just naturally, like I bulk during Christmas time (yummy cookies) and cut during the summer (lots of fruits and days by the pool).

I think we analyze this WAY too much at times.

ladyhawk00

Think of competitive bodybuilders, they do NOT look like they do at the competition year round. They do cycles of "bulk" and "cut", where they eat more, gain weight, then cut down ("diet") to get back into competitive shape. This is like real life...we as humans go through periods of bulking and cutting just naturally, like I bulk during Christmas time (yummy cookies) and cut during the summer (lots of fruits and days by the pool).

I think we analyze this WAY too much at times.

I can assure you, at no time was I "bulking" and "cutting" and looked nothing like a bodybuilder. I was depriving myself of fuel and I paid for it, in mental and physical health.

dawnemjh

Thanks for a well thought out post!! Nicely put!!!

lovetowrite73

I enjoy reading your posts because they are so eloquently put and well thought-out. I don't think you have overthought anything and am thankful that you posted this.

willimh

Great post and well needed. We learn from education, experience and exposer. You have definately educated us from your experience. Thanks again.

SHBoss1673

time to break out my special "Banks" bump I save for special posts.

Ashtarot

Thank you for putting this out here for us to read. I see so many things that you were going though that seem so familiar to my own past. I am only now after 2 months starting to sleep more than 4 hours at a time. Thinking back to the amount of caffeine I was taking in it's a wonder I slept at all.

Mindful_Trent

Great post - thanks for putting this out there!

robin52077

Very good post.

I found this out when I got my BodyMediaFit.
On the standard 1200 that MFP likes to throw around, I was weak, tired, and cranky. Turns out I naturally burn 1800-2200 a day living my life, so I was STARVING. I decided to bump up: MFP gave me 1500 as "maintenance" and I lost even more! Well yeah, that was still a 500 cal a day deficit at what they called maintenance. I had to put my lifestyle up to very active to get them to say 1700, and I do go over that most days, and my numbers turn red, but I don't care because I am full, alert, have energy to work out and do my job, and I am not gaining.
(and as a reference point: I am 5'2" and weigh 104 lbs, so if 1200 is starving for ME, it is probably starving to 95% of people who read this, because the bigger you are the more you need to survive.)

I have been advising anyone who will listen that 1200 is too low and to eat more.

SHBoss1673

Very good post.

I found this out when I got my BodyMediaFit.
On the standard 1200 that MFP likes to throw around, I was weak, tired, and cranky. Turns out I naturally burn 1800-2200 a day living my life, so I was STARVING. I decided to bump up: MFP gave me 1500 as "maintenance" and I lost even more! Well yeah, that was still a 500 cal a day deficit at what they called maintenance. I had to put my lifestyle up to very active to get them to say 1700, and I do go over that most days, and my numbers turn red, but I don't care because I am full, alert, have energy to work out and do my job, and I am not gaining.
(and as a reference point: I am 5'2" and weigh 104 lbs, so if 1200 is starving for ME, it is probably starving to 95% of people who read this, because the bigger you are the more you need to survive.)

I have been advising anyone who will listen that 1200 is too low and to eat more.

for a 5'2" woman 1800 yes, I could see that as maintenance if you were relatively active, but 2200, you might have something up there. That's super high for a woman your size. I've done a lot of research into this area and if I'm not mistaken (I'd have to go back and look) that would put you in the top ten percent of RMR for women over the age of 30 at 5'2", maybe even the top five, very rare, you should be happy for that if you've been metabolically cleared.